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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles
Sustainability, Vol.14(17), pp.1-13
2022
Abstract
(1) Background: The emergence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is likely to have substantial implications for walking behaviours due to the availability of new transport options and altered physical environments within cities. The aim of this exploratory study was to identify AV-related factors that could affect walking at the population level and strategies to ameliorate any negative effects. (2) Methods: A total of 46 Australian expert stakeholders were interviewed about their perceptions of the potential impacts of AVs on walking behaviours. The interviewees represented government departments (state and federal), non-government organisations (NGOs), private sector companies, peak bodies, and academia. (3) Results: Interviewees expected AVs to have different effects on individuals' ability and motivation to engage in planned versus incidental walking. While those with innate motivation to walk as a form of exercise or leisure may experience enhanced participation opportunities, it appears that incidental walking could be adversely impacted through the availability of convenient AV door-to-door transport options and automated home delivery services that reduce walking related to commuting and shopping. (4) Conclusions: Proactive policy actions are needed to optimize the potential positive impacts of AVs on walking and circumvent the potential negative impacts on valuable incidental walking that constitutes a key component of many people's total physical activity.
Details
- Title
- Walking in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles
- Authors
- Simone Pettigrew (Corresponding Author) - The George Institute for Global HealthLeon Booth (Author) - The George Institute for Global HealthVictoria Farrar (Author) - The George Institute for Global HealthBranislava Godic (Author) - The University of MelbourneJulie Brown (Author) - The George Institute for Global HealthCharles Karl (Author) - Australian Road Research BoardJason Thompson (Author) - The University of Melbourne
- Publication details
- Sustainability, Vol.14(17), pp.1-13
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.3390/su141710509
- ISSN
- 2071-1050
- Copyright note
- © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
- Data Availability
- Due to the potential identification of the expert stakeholder interviewees and ethics committee approval conditions, data are not available.
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991184184402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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